1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is micromechanical device on the order of 100 .mu.m to 10 mm for translating force normal to a plane into motion along said plane. Throughout the remainder of this application, the term vertical means approximately normal to a plane and the term horizontal means approximately parallel or approximately along the plane of a substrate of the device described herein. More particularly, the device receives a vertical force and translates the energy from that force for use in the horizontal plane. The device can easily be employed as part of a micro-actuator system.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Many products manufactured today require the use of micromechanical devices in order to meet size and weight requirements. Many of these micromechanical devices are used as actuators or trigger mechanisms that apply forces to a multitude of components in order for the products to function. These devices are extremely small, on the order of 100 .mu.m to 10 mm, and are normally manufactured on a flat substrate or "chip." In order for these micromechanical devices to function as actuators, a force must be applied to the devices so they, in turn, can apply this force to the mechanism they are designed to actuate. Current devices use a myriad of forces to accomplish this task including electrostatic forces, magnetic forces, and gravitational forces.
Because of the sizes at issue, the devices normally operate in the horizontal plane along the substrate upon which they are manufactured. Therefore, these devices exert the required forces along the substrate in order to obtain the required result from the device.
However, due to the design of certain machinery and equipment, it is sometimes far more effective or efficient to apply the required forces to the chip vertically. But in order for vertical forces to be useful along the substrate, one must convert the vertical motion resulting from the vertical force into horizontal motion. One example of equipment wherein applying vertical forces to a horizontal microactuator would be more effective and efficient is munitions used by the military. Because of weight and energy restrictions in munitions, micromechanical devices have been incorporated to arm the munitions. However, the optimum design of these munitions places the substrate of the micromechanical device in a horizontal position. When the munitions are fired or launched, a large amount of vertical force occurs throughout the munitions. This vertical force cannot be used to engage the micromechanical device in current systems.